Underwater vehicles have a variety of uses, including for example mine hunting.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,530,316 discloses a method for detection and neutralization of underwater objects which are present in a sea region, in particular mines. A two-dimensional or three-dimensional image of the seabed is created by means of an unmanned first underwater vehicle during a reconnaissance mission in a sea region section by means of optical and/or acoustic sensors, and this image is evaluated for the presence of underwater objects, after completion of the reconnaissance mission. At least one underwater object which is present is marked in the image, and the image which has been provided with the object marking is stored in an unmanned second underwater vehicle, which is equipped with the same sensors and additionally with a neutralization unit. During a neutralization mission by the second underwater vehicle in the same sea region section, image elements of the seabed are created continuously by means of the sensors and are compared with the stored image of the seabed. The second underwater vehicle is guided to the marked underwater object on the basis of the comparison data, and activates the neutralization unit there.
For example, GB 2,482,576 relates to a weapon clearance appliance for clearing weapons, such as underwater mines or munitions which have been sunk in waterways, under water by detonation of the weapon. In this case, the weapon clearance appliance is provided with means for detachable connection to an unmanned underwater vehicle, so that the underwater vehicle is a safe distance away when the weapon is detonated. In order to allow the use of conventional small underwater vehicles, the volume of the weapon clearance appliance is chosen such that the buoyancy force which acts on the weapon clearance appliance under water compensates for the force of gravity acting on the weapon clearance appliance. Therefore, the weapon clearance appliance has neutral buoyancy, as a result of which, after the weapon clearance appliance has been released from the underwater vehicle, there is no need to retrim the underwater vehicle. There is therefore no need for trimming devices on the underwater vehicle. The reference also relates to an underwater vehicle having a weapon clearance appliance of this kind, and to a method for clearing weapons using a weapon clearance appliance of this kind.
For example, US 2012/0048171 relates to an unmanned underwater vehicle having at least one sensor unit which can be used to acquire sensor information relating to objects in the area surrounding the underwater vehicle. The reference also relates to a method for operating the unmanned underwater vehicle. In order to sense structures and contours of objects under water, the reference provides for the at least one sensor unit to be arranged such that it can be moved in a tangential direction of the underwater vehicle, that is to say tangentially with respect to the longitudinal axis of the underwater vehicle or an axis running parallel to the longitudinal axis, and can be positioned in the circumferential direction by a positioning device to which the sensor information can be specified.
For example, US 2012/0055390 relates to an unmanned underwater vehicle which can be controlled according to predefinable control information by means of a control device. The reference also relates to a method for operating an unmanned underwater vehicle. To reduce the outlay for investigations of underwater areas using unmanned underwater vehicles, the reference provides for the underwater vehicle to be able to be controlled either in an autonomous operating mode or in a remotely controlled operating mode, predetermined internal control information from a memory element being able to be predefined to the control device in the autonomous operating mode and external control information being able to be predefined to the control device via a communication device of the underwater vehicle in the remotely controlled operating mode.